1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to information security and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods for using a biometric repository.
2. History of Related Art
Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States and worldwide. Identity theft generally involves a use of personally-identifying information (PII) that is not authorized by an owner of the PII. PII, as used herein, refers to information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a person. PII may include, but is not limited to, social security numbers (SSN), bank or credit card account numbers, passwords, birth dates, and addresses. Identity theft may include, for example, an unauthorized change to PII or an unauthorized use of PII to access resources or to obtain credit or other benefits.
Businesses and consumers alike are victims of identity-theft crimes. For example, in 2008, approximately ten million U.S. adults were victims of identity theft and businesses suffered approximately $56 billion as a direct result thereof. The Identity Fraud Survey Report created by Javelin Strategy & Research found that victims averaged a personal cost of $373 and 21 hours of time to resolve their identity fraud issues in 2009. The annual cost of identity theft currently exceeds $200 billion worldwide. Given that identity theft is a high-reward/low-risk crime as described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it appears that identity theft will continue to increase.
Therefore, it is advantageous for businesses to implement security practices that reduce the occurrence of identity theft. Biometric security is an example of an effective form of security. Biometric security generally involves an ability to identify and/or verify an identity of an individual person based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits such as, for example, voice, fingerprints, DNA, and the like. However, biometric security is often too expensive and complex to be a viable option for businesses.